Jerry Kinnaman bagged an elusive 10-point buck on a friend's property in Cape Girardeau County, but he knows some people will be upset. The deer was a rare albino and something of a local celebrity after several sightings in recent years.

Kinnaman shot the buck Tuesday morning with a bow and arrow, the Southeast Missourian reported.

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"I'm sure this is gonna stir some people up," Kinnaman said.

"You shouldn't worry about that," his friend, James Faught, replied. "I'd have done the same."

Even though he killed the buck legally on land just north of Cape Girardeau's city limits, Kinnaman knew he would get grief for shooting it. Hunters who had the opportunity in recent years had passed, including Kinnaman himself.

"I had a friend who let me hunt on his land a few years ago and I asked him, 'Would you be offended if I shot this deer?' and he said yes because it was so beautiful, you know?"

Eventually, his friend changed his tune.

"He had people trespassing on his land (to see the deer) and it was getting to be too much of a hassle," Kinnaman said. "It got so bad that he came back to me and said, 'I want you to shoot this deer.'"

Kinnaman said the deer had been shot before, surviving wounds to the shoulder.

"I gave him a fair shot. He had a good life," Kinnaman explained. "He's famous. He still will be."

Kinnaman said he had the white deer on his mind as he took his bow to the woods before sunrise Tuesday. He spotted the buck on a ridge with two does and drew him closer by grunting like a rival male.

"He came up looking like a monster when I made that grunt," he said. "He came in ready to fight."

The first arrow glanced off a branch and just grazed the animal. Kinnaman lured it back using a doe call and, from 25 yards away, shot an arrow into its side. The buck ran about 30 years before collapsing and dying.

Missouri Department of Conservation deer biologist Jason Sumner said albino deer are more susceptible to predators because their white color makes them stand out.

Kinnaman plans to have the deer stuffed and to sell it. He's already been contacted by potential buyers.